Cars are notoriously expensive in nearly every way; they’re expensive to buy, to insure, to maintain, and to fuel, and they depreciate in value quickly. But there are ways to make owning and maintaining your car affordable!

When it comes to maintenance, prevention is always less expensive.

Car maintenance has a cost, but it’s also called maintenance because it helps you to maintain your vehicle. When it’s not properly maintained, that’s when things start to go wrong and you’ll have to make repairs, which are almost always more expensive than maintenance.

Avoid emptying your gas tank – start looking for a fuel station when it gets around ¼ of a tank, and

Check your car’s manual for maintenance!

Accelerate and stop slowly.

Accelerating quickly is a great way to waste fuel, but it also gets you in the habit of driving aggressively. Stopping slowly rather than constantly slamming on the brakes is an incredibly cost-saving habit to create! Your brake pads might last two or three times as long if you brake carefully and thoughtfully than if you drive aggressively.

Check errors and make repairs quickly.

Not only is it important to perform scheduled maintenance on time, but when you do notice something wrong with your car, have it looked at sooner rather than later. This means when your check engine light turns on, don’t wait three weeks to see what triggered it – take it in as soon as possible. The longer the light is on, the more likely that the problem will grow and create other issues.